Trigger pin watering devices are commonly used for delivering water to poultry in poultry houses. Such drinkers generally include a chamber through which the water flows. One end of the chamber is adapted to be fitted to a water supply line and includes an inlet for allowing water to pass from the supply line into the chamber. The other end of the chamber generally includes an opening to allow fluid to flow out of the chamber. A valve seat and valve member are normally disposed within the chamber to prevent water from flowing out when the drinker is not being actuated by a bird. A valve actuating member is normally housed partially within the chamber and extends through the chamber outlet. The valve actuating member normally includes a cylindrical trigger pin, which the bird pecks or lifts, thereby unseating the valve member from the valve seat and allowing water to flow through the chamber and out to the bird. When actuation ceases, the valve member returns to the valve seat, thereby shutting off the water flow.
In many instances, a drop of water will remain hanging from the end of the pin after the bird has finished drinking. Similarly, a drop of water may also collect on the pin if the drinker leaks. The residual drop of water on the pin serves a useful function in that it attracts birds to the drinkers. When a thirsty bird sees the residual drop of water on the pin, it knows that it should go to the drinker to get water. However, it may also happen that the residual drop of water is so large that it eventually falls from the pin onto the floor of the poultry house. Additionally, if the watering system is vibrated, such as when a bird bumps into it, the droplet may fall from the pin. Furthermore, if a large or strong bird pecks at the pin forcefully, the water drop may fly off the pin on the side opposite the bird. Accordingly, the bird does not receive any water and the floor of the poultry house does. Aside from the fact that the poultry do not receive as much water under these circumstances, the health of the poultry is also threatened by the increased wetting of the manure on the floor of the poultry house. The wetter the manure is, the easier it is for bacteria and disease to breed in the poultry house.
In order to combat the foregoing, different “disc” designs have been provided to be secured to the trigger pin in order to retain water on the disc such that the birds can drink the retained water and such that spillage of the water onto the floor of the poultry house is lessened or minimized.
One such prior art “disc” design is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,138. The '138 patent discloses a “disc” or enlarged body having an extension and a knob. The trigger pin is secured within the extension. The knob depends from the extension at a lower end thereof and has an upper horizontal surface and a lower rounded surface. Upon actuation, water flows down the trigger pin, down the extension and onto the upper surface of the knob such that a quantity of water is held thereon by cohesive forces and natural surface tension. The “disc” of the '138 patent has its limitations, however, primarily that while it has been found to be effective for use in providing water to chickens, it has been found to be ineffective for use in providing water to turkeys. It is believed that the reason for this is that it is not a big enough target (not really any bigger than the trigger pin assembly itself) to attract the turkeys to it and because it does not provide enough water thereon such that the turkeys still need to work hard to get enough water to drink. In view thereof, increased mortality rates have been found when the “disc” of the '138 patent is used in providing water to turkeys.
Another such prior art “disc” design is described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,139. The '139 patent discloses a “disc” having a sleeve, a collecting surface and a lip. The trigger pin is secured within the sleeve. The collecting surface depends from the sleeve at a lower end thereof and provides an upper horizontal surface. The lip extends upwardly from the outer periphery of the collecting surface. As explained in the '139 patent, upon actuation, the disc will tilt in the direction of the bird such that water on the disc runs across the collecting surface and into the bird's mouth. Additionally, the collecting surface and the lip on the side opposite the bird swing upward when the bird actuates the drinker and act as a retaining wall, thus hindering water from flying off of the back side of the disc, such that the bird receives more water and the floor of the poultry house is kept drier. The '139 patent also describes adding three raised ribs to divide the collecting surface into three discrete compartments. In addition to the foregoing operation, the ribs hold water in the compartments other than the one at which the bird has actuated the disc such that the bird should only receive water from one of the three compartments, thus further reducing the wetting of the poultry and the poultry house floor.
The disc of the '139 patent, however, suffers from a number of disadvantages. Primarily, in actuality, the three ribs and the small perimeter lip provide poor control of the water retention and direction of water movement when triggered/tilted during drinking by the bird. Further, the ribs and the perimeter lip do not really slow the velocity of the water down when the disc is triggered/tilted which is important because if the water comes at the bird too fast it could splash onto the bird, thus preventing the bird from drinking the water, having it spill onto the floor of the poultry house, and possibly spooking the bird such that the bird would not want to drink from the disc again. Also, the disc is fastened to the trigger pin by knurling which does not provide for a high holding strength, which can be important when the disc is used by turkeys.
Another prior art “disc” design is marketed by Ziggity Systems Inc. and is referred to as the “Big Z Activator”. The Big Z Activator disc is sold in two sizes that are much larger than the disc sizes of either the '138 patent or the '139 patent, namely of about two and one half inch (2.5″) diameter and of about three and three-quarter inch (3.75″) diameter. These discs are formed to provide a radial V-shaped trough between the connection of the disc to the trigger pin and the outer periphery of the disc. The actuation of these discs occurs when the bird goes to sip the standing water out of the radial V-shaped trough. The discs are designed such that the bird must push the disc with its neck and rest its neck on the water to drink out of the shape of the trough.
The Big Z Activator disc, however, also suffers from a number of disadvantages. For instance, as the birds get older, they of course become bigger such that a point is reached where the head size on the bird no longer will fit comfortably into the trough and it becomes difficult for the bird to drink out of and, thus, begins to hurt the birds' growth performance. The reason for this is that the birds do not have a full palate, such as humans do, so they cannot technically swallow without compressing water in their mouth and forcing it down their throat. As such, birds typically use a side scooping action (where they obviously need ample room for their heads) where they lay their head over to “push” water down their throat, letting gravity do the work, otherwise the birds prefer drinking from a drinker above their head such that the water flows down their throats by gravity. The Big Z Activator disc thus does not allow the birds to drink in their preferred manner once their head sizes become too large. Also, because the water in the Big Z Activator disc is held in the trough, the birds must get close to it in order to look down into it to see that there is water in it. Thus, the Big Z Activator disc does not make it unmistakably evident to the birds that there is water therein and thus, the water therein does nothing to attract the birds thereto.
Thus, it is desired to provide a disc that is configured to be secured to the trigger pin which retains water thereon such that birds, primarily turkeys, can drink and which reduces spillage of the water onto the floor of the poultry house, but which overcomes or minimizes the disadvantages associated with the prior art “discs”.